I read with interest Matthew McCully’s April 15 article on the Opinion page, “I’m a Quebecer and a musician first; being anglo is beside the point,” as well as Donna Cameron’s April 18 letter to the editor, “Speaking English can be controversial.” Both commentaries suggest language isn’t a core concern for them as Quebecers. But as a francophone, I have a different view.

Like Matthew McCully, I am fully bilingual. I am a lawyer and I proudly serve my clients in the language of their choice, whether it’s French, English, Spanish or Danish. Like McCully, I have lived abroad, having studied and worked in Denmark, Sweden, Bolivia, Belgium and England. As a French Canadian, I learned English while studying at McGill University and in England.

I have never been discriminated against because of my mother tongue. And like many from my generation, I find English useful in order to connect with the rest of the planet.

However, I think it is necessary for French to be Quebec’s official language. And I disagree with the suggestion I sometimes see in The Gazette that my generation is uninterested in language issues. I worry about linguistic diversity and about the loss of languages in the world, and I wonder whether there will be more than 10 actively spoken languages a couple of centuries from now.

With 90 per cent of Internet pages currently being written in only 12 languages and (according to UNESCO) a language dying out every other week on average, there are grounds for concern about the loss of language diversity and the growing global power of English.

Over the past 20 years, globalization has intensified. And in the context of accelerated immigration, tourism and mass communication, English has become everyone’s common linguistic denominator, regardless of where they live or work. We see it everywhere.

Many francophones nowadays write in English on their Facebook profiles. Why? They want to be understood by their friends everywhere.

English is increasingly becoming the common linguistic denominator in Montreal, too. With large numbers of newcomers to the city, whether students, tourists or immigrants, English is inexorably becoming the standard language that allows you to be understood by everyone.

Are English-speaking Montrealers to blame for this? Not at all. They have improved in French over the past few decades, just as francophones have in English. What, then, is the problem?

The problem is that institutionalized bilingualism eventually marginalizes the weaker language. It’s like Beta versus VHS: once the vast majority has adopted VHS, it is difficult to continue with Beta.

The experiences of my family and my friends who work in the federal public service are instructive. In principle, our federal public sector is bilingual; but in practice, many meetings start with “Good morning everyone/Bon matin tout le monde,” and then the rest of the proceedings are in English only.

That is because English works, as the common denominator. By comparison, French lacks critical mass. And now we see that the federal government is calling for cuts in translation spending, and using English only.

This reminds me of many people I know who came to Montreal to learn French but didn’t: good faith was not enough. Good faith is insufficient without consistent exposure to French. This is also, by the way, the problem that the Gaelic revival is facing in Ireland.

In March 2012, L’actualité published a poll in which a large majority of anglophones respondents age 18 to 34 predicted that globalization will soon make Montreal a predominantly English-speaking city. Last month, the anglophone lobby CRITIQ wrote to elected officials at the city of Montreal to have the city charter amended to make Montreal an officially bilingual city; Mayor Michael Applebaum said no.

For many French Canadians, there’s this sense now in the city that we are drifting back to the time of Maurice Richard, when French was difficult to use in Montreal, although the reasons for the difficulties now (globalization) are different. So overall, for me, the language debate does matter — and precisely because I am a citizen of the world, concerned about diversity in the age of globalization.

St-Pierre Plamondon is vice-president of Delegatus, a Montreal law firm. He is also the president of Génération d’idées, a discussion forum for Quebecers age 20 to 35.

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Opinion: Language still an issue for many young francophones in Montreal

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